


Camelot Winters

by kayson



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Cupcakes, M/M, Midwinter, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-14
Updated: 2012-12-14
Packaged: 2017-11-21 02:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/592670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayson/pseuds/kayson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin’s first midwinter in Camelot has left him contemplative and a little lonely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camelot Winters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [qwerty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwerty/gifts).



> Happy Holidays, qwerty!!! I really hope you like this! Your prompt pictures were so lovely. 
> 
> This takes place sometime during Series 1 or 2. 
> 
> A big thank you to my fabulous beta for all of their help in whipping this fic into shape and ensuring I made the deadline!

Merlin watched as snow fell onto the courtyard, feeling slightly bereft. It was the first time he’d spent the midwinter festival away from home and he found his thoughts turning to Ealdor. It was a time for feasting and celebration in the palace while back in his village, it had been more of a time for friends and family: quiet gatherings and gift exchanges, singing and dancing around the fires as they celebrated the longest night. Those were what Merlin associated with this holiday. In Camelot, however, it seemed to just be another excuse to get the servants to work. 

Gwen had promised Merlin that they would have the night of the festival off in order to spend time with their family and friends but now that he was free, Merlin almost wished to be busy again. While busy, he hadn’t been able to dwell on how his mother was alone this year, how she wouldn’t be receiving any gifts unless one of the neighbours took pity on her and invited her over. Perhaps Maid Tanner would have her over, Merlin hoped, they’d always been friendly. 

“Merlin,” Gwen said quietly from behind, startling Merlin out of his rather morose thoughts. “Would you like to help me with something?”

“Sure.” Merlin smiled at her and shrugged. “So long as it isn’t laundry.”

Gwen chuckled and handed him the basket she was holding. “It’s for the servants’ children,” she explained. “It’s full of sweetmeats and little cakes. Morgana wanted to do something nice for them since so many of the little ones haven’t seen their parents these last couple of days.”

Merlin pulled back the cloth that was covering the treats, noticing a little jar of white substance. “What’s this?”

“It’s frosting,” Gwen explained. “See the little cakes? You spoon some on and it makes it extra sweet.” She turned pink. “I accidentally burnt some of them so I was hoping we could cover those parts with frosting.”

Merlin chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll taste wonderful.”

“Don’t you eat them all,” Gwen chided teasingly. “I’ve got so many back at my house. Could you get started? I can meet you in Gaius’s workroom in a few hours and we can pass them out.”

“No problem,” Merlin replied, grinning at the image of the children’s faces when they got their midwinter treat from Gwen. 

“Oh, and Merlin?” Gwen called when Merlin began to walk away. “Don’t let Arthur see them. He can be a bit of a pig when it comes to sweets.”

Merlin laughed and hurried back to Gaius’s chambers, an idea forming in his head.

“What’s that you have, Merlin?” Gaius asked when Merlin entered with the giant basket.

“Sweets for the servants’ children,” Merlin answered, setting his burden on the main table and going to poke through the different phials. “Do we have anything that can change food colour?”

“Such as a dye?” Gaius asked, frowning. “I don’t think so. I’m a physician, Merlin, not an artist.”

Merlin grinned at Gaius and went over to the basket, pulling out the jar of white frosting. “I wanted to make this change colours.”

Gaius shook his head, smiling at Merlin’s enthusiasm. “I’m sorry, Merlin, I don’t have anything. The children won’t mind, just put the frosting on and pass them out.”

Merlin nodded and went to find a clean spoon. “Arthur gave me the day off.”

“And I suppose that means you want me to do so as well,” Gaius commented, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I _am_ helping Gwen now,” Merlin pointed out hopefully. 

Gaius chuckled. “I only have a few deliveries to make; I suppose I can do them myself.”

“Thanks, Gaius,” Merlin said, settling down to work at covering the tiny cakes with the sweet white frosting. 

When Gaius had gone, Merlin quickly got up from the table and found three small bowls, spooning the frosting into it. He remembered a spell he’d used a few times on Arthur’s clothes, to remove stains, and thought that perhaps if he tweaked it, he could change the colour of the frosting. 

After a few tries and word manipulations, one of which ended with the frosting turning purple and bubbling ominously, Merlin finally had three bowls full of different coloured frosting. Beaming at the red, yellow and blue bowls of frosting, he picked up the spoon and began to mix, creating a spectrum of colours to spoon onto the little cakes. 

After nearly two hours, Merlin finished, feeling quite pleased with himself. On a normal day, he never would have been allowed to sit still for so long or do something quite as frivolous as decorate children’s sweets. Of course, he would argue that helping Arthur dress was rather frivolous, as Arthur could clearly take care of himself, but he wasn’t about to argue that point. He’d been free of the stocks for nearly a month and didn’t want to push his luck.

“Merlin!” Arthur yelled, startling Merlin out of his relaxed reverie when the door to Gaius’s chambers burst open. “There you are.”

Merlin frowned and said, “You gave me the day off.”

“I know.” Arthur sighed. “But I need you to serve at the table tonight.” He seemed to notice that Merlin was surrounded by a bunch of tiny frosted cakes and his eyes lit up. “Do I get one?”

“They’re for the servants’ children,” Merlin said, wanting to tell Arthur that it would be very easy for him to request sweets from the palace cooks. It was very likely he’d have a dozen choices at the midwinter banquet; he didn’t need to eat the cakes Gwen had probably spent all day baking. 

Arthur nodded and seemed to decide against taking any. Instead, he sat down at the table across from Merlin, watching as he packed the treats back into the basket. “My father wants to mount gargoyles around the palace.”

“What?” Merlin asked, frowning at Arthur. “Why?”

“He says they’ll protect us from evil magic,” Arthur replied, leaning forward and stealing the spoon Merlin had been using to frost the cakes and sucking it into his mouth. “This is delicious.”

“Gwen made it,” Merlin said, trying not to laugh when he saw that the frosting had turned Arthur’s lips and tongue a deep violet. He seemed to have made the colour binding spell stronger than he’d expected but he knew it would do no harm, he only hoped it would wear off. It wouldn’t do for the children to wander around with rainbow coloured mouths forever. Or for the Crown Prince to look as though he’d attempted to eat the dye for one of Morgana’s dresses.

“Mmm,” Arthur hummed thoughtfully. He spooned more leftover frosting into his mouth and set the spoon aside, getting to his feet. “Come, I need you to help me prepare for the banquet.”

Merlin wanted to argue but it would do no good. If he did, and Arthur actually let him have the night off, it would only make him feel guilty that another servant had taken his place. Probably a servant who had family to spend the holiday with and a child who received a cake to make up for the missing parent. Merlin couldn’t do that to someone, not when the only person he could celebrate with was Gaius and Gaius was spending it treating winter flus. 

“Are you all right, Merlin?” Arthur asked when they reached his chambers. “You’ve been unusually quiet and while it’s nice to be able to hear my own thoughts, I wouldn’t mind a little bit of conversation.”

“Sorry, were you talking, Sire?” Merlin quipped. “I never realised how much attention you needed.”

Arthur rolled his eyes and directed Merlin towards the clothes he needed to wear that evening. “I think I talked him out of mounting them.”

“What?” Merlin asked confused and a little uncomfortable at Arthur’s word choice.

“The gargoyles,” Arthur said patiently, looking at Merlin as if he’d grown a second head. His lips were now an eye smarting shade of red that made Merlin want to offer him a cloth to hide their indecency. Even courtesans wouldn’t wear such a colour. “Weren’t you listening?”

“Of course, Sire,” Merlin replied, trying to sound sincere. He realised it had probably fallen flat when Arthur snorted and shook his head. 

“Anyway, I don’t think we could find anyone who would be willing to carve them,” Arthur continued.

“Wouldn’t they need to be blessed in order to work against evil magic or monsters?” Merlin asked curiously, earning a shrug from Arthur. 

“I really don’t know,” Arthur answered. “I’m not as interested in the protection aspect as I am in the cost to our people. We’d have to raise taxes to pay the sculptor and with winter famine likely, we need to ensure our people have enough to care for themselves.”

Merlin smiled as he helped Arthur into his heavy, red woollen coat, pleased with the king his prince would one day be if he continued to think and act in such a way. He thought back to how Arthur hadn’t asked for another cake once learning they were for the servants’ children and shook his head. Despite sometimes being a bully, Arthur loved his people. 

“There you go, all ready,” Merlin declared, bundling up Arthur’s dirty clothes and tossing them in the laundry basket. He left the basket where it was; he could deal with the washing later. 

Arthur turned and settled Merlin with a smile, his lips almost back to their normal shade of pink. He clapped Merlin on the shoulder, squeezing tightly and Merlin imagined it contained a whole host of words Arthur would probably never say to him. Merlin smiled and stepped aside so that Arthur could pass. 

“I’ll leave the banquet early tonight so that you can have the evening with Gaius,” Arthur offered as they walked towards the hall. 

Merlin knew it was as close to an apology as he would get for having his day off stolen from him. “Thank you.”

Arthur rolled his eyes and headed up to the high table, sitting next to his father.

Merlin moved to stand in the shadows near the other servants who were serving. It wasn’t nearly as many as normal and while Merlin expected to hear complaints, everyone seemed to be in a rather jovial mood as they filled wine glasses, offered delicacies, and waited to be summoned by their lord or lady. 

It was still early when Arthur waved Merlin over and asked for his assistance in returning to his chambers. Many of the gathered nobles called well wishes to their prince as he left, supported by his servant. 

“You didn’t drink very much,” Merlin said, letting Arthur hang on him as they went back to Arthur’s rooms. 

“No, but I’d had enough of being there,” Arthur answered, letting go of Merlin when they were well away from the hall. “It’s never quite as cheerful as it should be.” He chuckled. “I think the servants and peasants enjoy the festival more than we do.”

Wistfully, Merlin thought again of the singing and dancing that was likely occurring in Ealdor and felt a pang of longing for his humble home. 

Arthur chuckled. “I guess that answers it.” He pulled off his coat and handed it to Merlin to put away. “Go ahead, you can leave. Gaius probably has a gift for you.” 

“I don’t have anything for you,” Merlin mumbled, feeling guilty. He had a small token for both Gaius and Gwen but he’d gotten nothing for the prince, not wanting to embarrass himself by giving Arthur something he wouldn’t find any use for. 

“You don’t really have to,” Arthur said with a frown. “Traditionally, I’m supposed to give you something tomorrow.”

“Oh?” Merlin asked teasingly. “And have you gotten me something?”

“It’s supposed to be one of my castoffs,” Arthur said haughtily, laughing at the face Merlin made. 

“And I thought you cared about me,” Merlin said, affecting a wounded expression before bursting into laughter as Arthur swatted at him. 

“You think highly of yourself,” Arthur joked, pushing Merlin towards the door, a strange look in his eye as he crowded his manservant. “Maybe I’ll give you something now, if you want it?”

Due to their close proximity, Merlin found himself looking at Arthur’s mouth again, remembering the violet hue that had been there just a few hours ago and comparing it to the natural pink it was now. He found he preferred the pink and quickly flicked his eyes up to meet Arthur’s, not wanting to be caught staring at something he knew he couldn’t have. 

“Do you?” Arthur asked silkily and Merlin tried to suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. It was nearly as pleasing as the warmth of his magic when it was used to do something good for someone. 

“Yes,” Merlin said, not sure what exactly he was agreeing to but knowing that his mouth had gone dry and that Arthur’s breath was like a caress against his cheek. 

Arthur leaned in so that his face was mere inches from Merlin’s own, his eyes searching Merlin’s for something and apparently finding it because his mouth was suddenly on Merlin’s and Merlin thought he was drowning. The kiss lasted for only a moment, but it was long enough for them both to feel giddy and Merlin wondered briefly if the single glass of watered mead Arthur had drunk was enough to make them both foolish. 

“I’ll give you the rest tomorrow,” Arthur promised, holding Merlin’s gaze, his hands braced on either side of Merlin’s head. “Well, if you still want it.”

“Yes,” Merlin replied, repeating his words from just moments ago. 

Arthur nodded and drew back, a smile on his face as Merlin whispered a goodnight and left the room.

As he returned to Gaius’s chambers, Merlin felt warmth spread throughout his body and he tucked away the feeling of Arthur’s lips on his to be pondered over later. At the moment, he wanted to enjoy the happy midwinter bubble, pretend he could hear his mother’s singing, remember the gentle kiss and touches Arthur had offered as a gift, and chuckle at the memory of colourful, magic-stained lips discussing the people of Camelot that their prince so loved. 

He drew these happy things around him, thinking that his first midwinter in Camelot was one he’d always remember.


End file.
